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Ambrose Bierce's The Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

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He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children. Striking through the thoughts of his dear ones he heard sound of loud metallic percussion in the distant. What he heard was the ticking of his watch. He looked towards the water below him, "If I could free my hands I might throw off the noose and spring to the stream." Then as these thoughts swirled through his brain the sergeant stepped aside and the man fell. Ambrose Bierce pulled us through a twisted tale of a confederate man, Peyton Farquhar, who is being hung for a crime that he had committed. Peyton, in the story, has this illusion that he escapes the threshold of death and is about to reach his wife until, just as he is about to embrace her, dies. The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge's surprise ending is shown through multiple occasions of foreshadowing, using suggestive language, and scenarios where it is too good to be true. …show more content…

Throughout the entire story most people would not be able to pick up the subtle hints of Bierce's ending of illusion and woah. One occasion where Ambrose states that Peyton was walking through the forest and couldn't feel his feet touch the floor anymore, hinting that his consciousness in the situation was ersatz. Also, when Farquhar is standing on the ledge of the wood he hears the death knell ring, but the death knell is only rung once the subject is accurately dead. Although, some people may questions these foreshadowing events, another example of Bierce's writing is it is plainly too good too be

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